Police looking for shooter

Police are looking for a shooter after a 25-year-old woman and a teenager were shot Monday night near the intersection of Third Avenue South and Seventh Street South, according to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department.

Officers who arrived about 11 p.m. said they found Iesha Mann lying in the street with a gunshot wound to her back. She was flown to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, where she was reported in critical condition. Her condition was upgraded to serious Tuesday afternoon.

As officers were working that call, they learned a 17-year-old boy arrived at the emergency room of Baptist Medical Center Beaches with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

Police said they determined both victims were shot at the South Jacksonville Beach scene.

Witnesses said they heard as many as 10 shots fired, and then heard Mann screaming for help.

"My fiance was comforting her, telling her to stay still, and blood was just coming out of her," witness Natalie Oliver said. "She was saying, 'I don't want to die, I don't want to die.' It was just horrible."

"She said she couldn't feel the lower half of her body, and somebody was asking her from the neighborhood who did this, and she was saying, 'I don't know, I don't know,'" Oliver added.

An acquaintance of Mann's who did not want to be identified said Mann was new to the neighborhood and enjoyed walking her dog and playing outside with her two young sons.

"This lady does have kids that she has to look after, and it's sad that she could be paralyzed for the rest of her life," the acquaintance said.

Witnesses said two men in their late teens or early 20s were seen running from the scene.

Investigators don't believe the shooting was gang related, but longtime residents like Oliver say the neighborhood has been attracting trouble for months. While she said she plans to move, she also makes a heartfelt plea for those responsible to come forward.

"An innocent victim was shot and she could be paralyzed for the rest of her life," Oliver said. "So please, if you did this or know something -- someone in the neighborhood knows something."

Anyone with any information about the shootings is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.

Copyright 2012 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

The views expressed below are not those of News4Jax or its affiliated companies. By clicking on "Post," you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Service and your comment is in compliance with such terms. Readers, please help keep this discussion respectful and on topic by flagging comments that are offensive or inappropriate (hover over the commenter's name and you'll see the flag option appear on right side of that line). And remember, respect goes both ways: Tolerance of others' opinions is important in a free discourse. If you're easily offended by strong opinions, you might skip reading comments entirely.

National News

Nearly 40 years after receiving a life sentence for his role in the largest mass abduction in U.S. history, James Schoenfeld -- one of the three infamous Chowchilla school bus kidnappers -- will walk out of a California prison this week a free man.